


Afterimage

by Dordean



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher Series - Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 06:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12206130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dordean/pseuds/Dordean
Summary: She was everything he had dreamt her to be and more, everything he had ever wanted. And he would lose her, soon, and he knew it, for no matter how hard you tried it was impossible to hold a flame.





	Afterimage

He dreamt of her nearly every night - and he remembered all those dreams, in detail, which was weird in itself. Some of them, he mentioned to Geralt. Others, there was no way in hell he would ever tell anyone about, least of all the Witcher, who thought of Ciri as his daughter. The mornings when he was forced to look for a quiet spot to compose himself far from the watchful eyes of his companions were embarrassing enough. There was no need to deepen the mortification, and so those _other_ dreams would forever remain his own deep dark secret.

***  
That night he had one of the _other_ ones, and thus even before the sun rose he sneaked out of the camp and made its way to a nearby clearing, across which a small stream meandered. It was an early winter in these parts and the ground was covered with a thin layer of fresh snow. He kneeled next to the stream and splashed his head with the freezing water; he found that was usually the best solution to his predicament. Unfortunately, this morning the treatment did little to distract him as the images he saw in the dream seemed to have been burned into his retina: Ciri, her skin, her scent, her smiles; the heat and passion and _worse_ : the companionship and intimacy, small caring gestures the memory of which clawed at his heart, twisting it and tugging at it painfully. He could have dealt with simple lust easily enough, he mused; after all, there hadn’t been many occasions to enjoy a female company while in the army or tailing Geralt, not to mention the years spent in the imperial dungeons, so that would at least be understandable. But this – this was so much more. He suspected he was simply going insane; there was no other explanation for repeatedly dreaming of a girl – a woman – he had found all those years ago in Cintra as a terrified, deeply traumatised child, and had only met once since.  
In the dreams however she was anything but – confident, accomplished, strong – and so damn sensual and downright _charming_ Cahir really had no choice but to fall in love with her. With a dream. How pathetic could a man get?

***  
A brilliant green light flashed in the clearing snapping him out of his reverie; the image was blurry for a moment, then quickly took shape and Cahir suddenly found it impossible to breathe. It was like a picture taken straight from one of his visions: standing in front of him with hands on her hips, almost as tall as him, an ugly scar on her left cheek, eyes shining and a small, cheeky smile playing on her lips. Ciri, there, in flesh.

Without a word, she walked up to him and before he could react she took his hand. Next thing a freezing darkness surrounded them for a heartbeat before a completely new and strange landscape opened up. Cahir looked around, stunned. Everything about that place was different – they were on a similar clearing on a side of a hill but he didn’t recognize any plants or sounds that filled the air and the nearly vertical, tall, imposing mountains lingering in the distance also looked completely unfamiliar. He shook his head and looked at her.  
‘What…’  
‘I wanted to thank you,’ she said simply as if it explained anything at all. “I never got the chance.’  
‘How…’  
She smiled and gestured for him to sit. He obeyed, too dumbfounded to protest – or even to think independently.  
‘It’s a long story, but I’ll try and make it short. In the years following the quest you’re currently on, I learnt that my blood gives me control over time and space. I eventually learnt how to use it. And like I said – I never got a chance to thank you for what you’ve done for me.’  
‘For what I’ve done?’ he repeated.  
She smiled again and took his hand. He glanced down at their intertwined fingers and back up at her, utterly confused.  
‘It may be best if I don’t say too much.’  
‘You can’t do _that_ ,’ he heard himself complaining when a sudden thought pierced through his befuddled mind. ‘You didn’t get a chance to say thank you… And yet you’re here. I won’t make it, will I?’  
She was silent for a little too long.  
‘I’m awfully, terribly sorry,’ she said quietly.  
Cahir stared at the horizon, fighting with the tightness in his throat.  
‘I…,’ he attempted after a moment. ‘I never dared to hope to… You were to marry the emperor…’  
‘I didn’t,’ she replied gently. ‘But that’s a _very_ long and complicated story, one I’m afraid we don’t have time for under the circumstances.’  
He took a deep, shaky breath, painfully aware of her hand around his. If these were to be some of his last moments...  
‘How much time do we have then?’  
‘A few hours. Time flows a little differently in this world, but not by much.’  
‘And you really are here.’  
‘I am,’ she offered him a small smile.  
He was staring at her, still not really believing this was real and not another one of his -  
‘I had dreams about you, you know,’ she suddenly said and he nearly gasped.  
‘What… Dreams?’ he managed meekly.  
‘Oh, different ones,’ she tilted her head a little, and Cahir realised in panic that she was thoroughly enjoying his embarrassment. ‘But there were enough of them that I decided to try and meet you again… Even though jumping through time is _not_ my favourite thing. It took a while to find you.’  
She took his other hand and he let her, still too paralysed to take the initiative. Also having her here with him made taking any initiative nearly impossible.  
She seemed to have noticed that as well as next thing he knew were her lips on his.

***  
The sensation and the taste of her assaulted his senses, sending his head into a spin. He gently touched her face, deepening the kiss. This was better, hundred, thousand times better than any of the dreams he'd had. Her hands were in his hair, she was leaning into him and the feeling of her was making it difficult to maintain any control. He broke the kiss to gasp for air and she chuckled; a low and husky sound that sent shivers through his body. Still cupping her face in his hands, he pressed his forehead against hers and looked into her eyes.  
‘Ciri,’ he said quietly, cherishing the sound of her name.  
She smiled.  
‘Cahir,’ she echoed and with that his control gave way to the overwhelming need to be with her, to feel her, taste her with all his senses, to completely lose himself in her for all that borrowed time he was so unexpectedly given.

***  
She was like smoke and molten silver and fire under his fingers, elusive and yet so real, and he marvelled at all that even as the logical part of his brain screamed that this whole thing was impossible, that he clearly just crossed the line into full-blown insanity; that she couldn’t even be _here_ , as the core problem was that nobody had absolutely any idea _where_ she was. Hell, he had no idea where _here_ was, this _here_ he found himself in. And yet with her leg wrapped around his waist, her hands around his shoulders, her lips on his collarbone she couldn’t be any closer - while still remaining completely out of his reach. She was everything he had dreamt her to be and more, everything he had ever wanted. And he would lose her, soon, and he knew it, for no matter how hard you tried it was impossible to hold a flame. But it was damn well worth getting burnt if it meant holding it even for the briefest of moments. And so, he buried his face in her neck, drunk on her scent, on her voice repeating his name.

***  
He touched her face, tracing the scar on her cheek. She winced a little.  
‘When did this happen?’  
‘A long ago. ‘  
‘And when are we?’  
‘Does it matter?’  
‘Not really. I just…’  
‘Kiss me.’  
He obeyed. He found that he couldn’t really refuse her anything, not ever but especially not when she leaned over him to trace his own scars with her lips.  
‘You were asking about my dreams…’ he heard her murmuring, her lips almost touching his abdomen in a slow and sweet torture. With a growl he reached out, trying to pull her closer, but she wriggled out of his reach laughing and continued her exploration. He groaned and closed his eyes, losing himself in the sensation of her lips on his body. If death truly awaited him at the end of this quest, he thought, this was making it all worth it. After all, the ultimate goal had always been to find her - and found she was.

***  
‘I love you.’  
‘You don’t know me.’  
‘That’s irrelevant.’  
She laughed quietly and he suddenly knew with blinding clarity that he would do anything just to hear that carefree laugh, with the burdens of the past briefly forgotten.  
‘How much longer?’ he whispered, stroking her hair.  
‘A little while still,’ she murmured into his neck.  
‘I wish…’  
‘I know,’ she interrupted, lifting her head to look at him, her emerald eyes clouded with sadness. ‘Me too. But please understand I’m already doing the impossible. This is all the time we have. Don’t waste it on regrets.’  
He pulled her back, wrapping his arms around her, trying to memorise every tiniest detail of this moment; the way her body fit so perfectly against his, the softness of her skin under his fingers, the way her eyes lit up when she smiled, the sound of her voice saying his name.

***  
Brilliant green light flashed and he found himself in a familiar snow-covered clearing, his hand still clasped around Ciri’s. He turned to her, feeling his heart trying to burst in his chest.  
‘I won’t see you again.’  
‘You will, but very briefly,’ she touched his cheek, tracing invisible lines along his jaw. ‘And I won’t recognise you for who you became.’  
‘And then I’ll die.’  
It wasn’t a question and so, instead of replying, she dragged him into another kiss. Then she took a step back, her emerald eyes full of emotions he couldn’t even begin to name.  
‘Goodbye, Cahir Mawr Dryffryn aep Ceallach’ she said quietly and before he could stop her she disappeared in another flash of light, leaving a void in his world that could never be filled by anything or anyone but her.

Around him, snow was falling silently. Cahir dreamt.

**Author's Note:**

> So this happened after [MonAlice's](http://archiveofourown.org/users/MonAlice) PWP dare, and mostly during work hours. I regret nothing. 
> 
> MonAlice, little disappointed at the porn/plot ratio, kindly provided not only inspiration but also a beta.
> 
> Very much inspired by [JustAnoR's](https://justanor.deviantart.com/) gallery on Deviantart, which is simply stunning.


End file.
